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Tt  ' 


/ 


MEMORIAL  ® HISTORY 


OF  THE 


0 3 3 3 30- 


W esteriiLArary  Association 


OF 


AMES  TOWNSHIP, 


ATHENS  COUNTY,  OHIO, 


" Means  of  Instruction  should  forever  be  encouraged." —Ordinance  of 

1787,  Sec . VII. 


PUBLISH  HI)  BY  THE 

Pioneer  Association  of  Athens  County,  Ohio. 
1882. 


occ 


< c < 


cce  o r 


; c (fto  ,oo 


ooc  c o 


' c t c etc 


:=2  0.^33 


ioneet1 


ssociation 


OF 

ATHENS  COUNTY,  OHIO. 


At  a meeting  of  said  Association,  held  on  the  10th 
day  of  November,  x 88,  the  following  resolutxon  was 
passed  by  unanimous  vote : 

, f „ Monument,  as  heretofore  contemplated 

„,M.  Ttol,™t»a  ° pubn,htd  in  pamphlel 

rnrriTL;  - » ” 

- — - 

approval  a form  of  such  Memorial  and  History. 

In  pursuance  of  said  resolution,  the  Committee 
appointed  thereunder  prepared  and  submitted  to 
Association  a Memorial  and  History  of  said  Library, 
Cwch  after  emendation  and  correction  by  the  Pxohkek 
Association,  was  approved  and  ordered  to  be  Pub- 
lished in  pamphlet  form,  in  an  edition  o ^at  least  5 
copies,  for  the  use  of  the  Association,  and  for  di 


u \ 

W 5 186871 

1 o h (,  11 


4 


tion  among  like  societies  and  public  libraries  in  the 
States  formed  out  of  the  Northwest  Territory. 

]vee]vioi*i£l  jg:plD 

The  Western  Library  Association,  or  as  it  is  some- 
times, in  half-derision,  called  in  later  years,  the  “ Coon- 
skin  Library,”  was  originated  in  1801,  in  what  is  now 
Ames  township,  in  this  (Athens)  county.  The  first  set- 
tlement in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Ohio , was  at  Marietta 
in  1788,  and  most  of  the  originators  and  founders 
of  the  Library  were  an  off-shoot  from  that  settlement. 

As  early  as  1795,  just  after  the  close  of  the  Indian 
war,  a temporary  road  was  cut  through  the  then 
wilderness  from  the  Muskingum  river  to  Federal  creek 
— a stream  so  named  because  it  has  thirteen  branches, 
corresponding  in  number  with  the  then  thirteen  United 
States.  Through  this  wilderness  path,  on  foot  and  on 
horseback,  or  in  canoes  by  the  circuitous  route  of  the 
Ohio  and  Hockhocking  rivers  and  Federal  creek,  the 
sturdy  pioneers  found  their  way  to  the  valley  of  the 
creek,  and  there  formed  the  settlement  now  known  as 
Airms  township.  The  settlement  was  some  twelve 
miles  east  of  the  town  of  Athens,  the  county-seat, 
where  a settlement  had  been  begun  about  a year  pre- 
viously. The  settlers  in  Ames  found  themselves  in  the 
midst  of  a dense  wilderness  untouched  by  the  hand  of 
man,  and  untrodden  save  by  the  foot  of  the  savage  and 
the  wild  beast.  The  forest,  however,  was  underlaid  by 

a rich 


5 


a rich  and  productive  soil,  and  abounded  in  almost 
every  variety  of  game  ; and  it  was  upon  this  soil  and 
game,  almost  alone,  that  the  hardy  pioneers  had  to 
depend  for  a scanty  subsistence.  They  were  almost 
utterly  without  the  conveniences  and  comforts  of  civi- 
lized life  : No  roads,  no  mills,  no  lumber,  no  houses,  no 
money,  no  schools,  no  newspapers,  no  mails,  no  coaches. 
An  axe,  a hoe,  and  a rude  wooden  plow  constituted 
their  agricultural  implements.  A gun  and  a shot  pouch 
were  their  almost  daily  companions,  and  with  these, 
they  killed  the  animals  which  supplied  them  with  daily 
food,  and  to  some  extent  with  clothing.  u Traces  of  the 
elk  and  buffalo  were  yet  to  be  seen,  and  deer,  bears 
turkeys,  quails,  pheasants,  raccoons  and  squirrels  were 
found  in  great  abundance.  Panthers,  wolves  and  wild 
cats  were  also  numerous,  and  for  a long  time  were  a 
source  of  annoyance  and  danger.” 

After  several  visits  to  the  proposed  place  of  settle- 
ment, in  March,  1 798,  Mr.  George  Ewing  brought  his 
family  out,  and  settled  on  what  is  now  known  as  the 
Gardner  farm.  It  was  nearly  a year  later  that  Judge 
Ephraim  Cutler  and  Captain  Benjamin  Brown  brought 
their  families  over  from  Waterford,  on  the  Muskingum. 
“The  domestic  effects  and  portable  property  of  the 
two  families  were  loaded  into  canoes,  and  sent,  in 
charge  of  Captain  Brown,  down  the  Muskingum  and 
Ohio  rivers  to  the  mouth  of  the  Hockhocking,  and  up 
the  latter  stream  to  the  mouth  of  Federal  creek.”  The 


women 


6 


women  and  children  on  horseback,  were  conducted  by 
Mr.  Cutler  along  the  wilderness  path  over  the  hills  to 
their  new  home.  In  a narrative  written  subsequently 
by  Mr.  Cutler,  he  thus  speaks  of  this  journey:  “I,  with 
four  horses,  took  Mrs.  Brown  and  Mrs.  Cutler,  and  all 
our  children,  to  go  twenty  miles  through  an  entire  wil- 
derness to  our  home.  Night  overtook  us  before  we  were 
able  to  cross  Sharp’s  Fork  of  Federal  creek,  and  we 
were  obliged  to  encamp.  We  experienced  a very 
rainy  night.  The  creek  in  the  morning  was  rapidly 
rising.  I hurried,  got  Mrs.  Brown  and  Mrs.  Cutler 
and  the  children,  with  the  baggage  and  horses  over  the 
creek,  all  except  A.  G.  Brown  (Judge  Brown  of  Athens), 
then  a child  three  or  four  years  old,  whom  I took  in  my 
arms  ; and  as  I stepped  on  a drift  of  flood-wood,  which 
reached  across  the  creek,  it  broke  away  from  the  bank. 
We  were  in  danger,  but  a gracious  Providence  pre- 
served us,  and  we  got  safely  across.  We  arrived  at 
our  camp , where  we  afterwards  built  our  cabin,  May 
7th,  1799.” 

In  May,  1800,  Silvanus  Ames , afterwards  known  as 
Judge  Ames,  came  with  his  family,  and  settled  near  Mr. 
Cutler,  on  the  farm  which  he  occupied  till  1823,  the 
date  of  his  death. 

Deacon  Joshua  Wyatt , with  his  family,  came  about 
the  same  time.  Others  followed,  many,  or  most  of 
them,  from  that  “jailor  of  a daring  heart,”  the  “ Mari- 
etta Stockade.”  All,  or  most  of  these,  bore  a large  part 

in  the 


7 


in  the  early  history  of  “Amestown.”  “ Their  wives  too,” 
says  the  author  of  the  History  of  Athens  county , “were 
persons  of  solid  minds  and  superior  culture.”  “The 
writer  remembers,”  says  the  same  author,  “to  have 
heard  Mrs.  Ames,  who  had  been  tenderly  reared  in  the 
family  of  a New  England  clergyman,  * * describe 

the  hardships  of  her  tedious  journey  from  Massachu- 
setts to  Ohio,  in  the  year  1 799,  which  she  made  all  the 
way  on  horseback,  carrying  an  infant  in  her  arms.”  Of 
a like  nature  were  the  hardships  endured,  and  the  in- 
domitable courage  manifested  by  most  of  the  emigrants. 

Under  such  circumstances,  one  would  think,  there 
could  be  but  little  time  or  energy  left  for  the  greater 
work  of  providing  for  the  wants  of  their  higher  nature. 
In  such  cases  men  are  too  apt  to  be  busied  about 
“many  things,”  and  to  forget  the  “one  thing  needful:” 
Patriotism,  morality  and  education,  are  too  apt  to  be 
lost  sight  of,  and  as  it  were,  crushed  out  by  the  mate- 
rial necessities  of  the  hour.  Not  so  with  these  hardy 
pioneers.  They  seemed  to  realize  that  they  were 
founding  an  empire.  Their  prophetic  vision  seems 
to  have  foreseen  the  present  greatness  of  the  North- 
west, and  to  have  realized  the  fact  that  its  future,  at 
least  to  some  extent,  would  depend  upon  their  action. 
They  seemed  to  realize  that  they  were  engaged  in  lay- 
ing one  of  the  foundation-stones  on  which  the  great 
States  of  the  Northwest  Territory  were  to  be  erected 
— that  they  were  making  history,  to  be  read  with  profit 

by  posterity 


8 


by  posterity — that  a little  taper  light  to  be  kindled  by 
them  in  this  obscure  pioneer  settlement,  would  in  time 
unite  with  other  lights,  and  illuminate  the  great  North- 
west. They  apparently  acted  under  an  inspiration 
like  that  of  the  poet  who  describes  the  night  ride  of 
Paul  Revere,  rallying  his  neighbors  to  the  battle  of 
Concord,  * * * 

‘‘And  yet,  through  the  gloom  and  the  light, 

The  fate  of  a nation  was  riding  that  night ; 

And  the  spark  struck  out  by  that  steed  in  his  flight, 

Kindled  the  land  into  flame  with  its  heat.” 

As  has  already  been  said,  the  Library  Association 
was  originated,  and  provision  made  for  the  purchase 
of  books  in  1801,  but  the  first  installment  of  books  was 
not  procured  till  1803,  when  the  Association  was  duly 
formulated,  and  the  stock  taken  by  the  members. 
There  was  great  difficulty  in  procuring  funds  with 
which  to  purchase  the  books.  “Some  of  the  settlers,” 
says  the  author  of  Walker  s History  of  Athens  County , 
“were  good  hunters,  and  there  being  a ready  market 
for  furs  and  skins,  which  were  bought  by  the  agents  of 
John  Jacob  Astor  and  others,  these  easily  paid  their 
subscriptions.  Mr . Samuel  Brown , who  was  soon  to 
make  a trip  to  Boston  in  a wagon,  would  take  the  furs 
and  skins  intended  for  the  purchase  of  books,  and  bring 
back  the  books  in  return.  His  trip  was  unavoidably 
delayed  longer  than  he  expected,  but  in  the  summer  of 
1803  he  went  to  Boston  with  the  furs,  &c.,  with  which 

he  purchased 


9 


he  purchased  the  first  installment  of  books.  These 
books  cost  seventy-three  dollars  and  fifty  cents,  and  com- 
prised the  following:  Robertson’s  North  America; 
Harris'  Encyclopaedia,  4 volumes;  Morse’s  Geogra- 
phy, 2 volumes;  Adams’  Truth  of  Religion;  Gold- 
smith’s Works,  4 volumes;  Evelina,  2 volumes;  Chil- 
dren of  the  Abbey,  2 volumes;  Blair’s  Lectures; 
Clark’s  Discourses ; Ramsey’s  American  Revolution, 
2 volumes;  Goldsmith’s  Animated  Nature,  4 volumes; 
Playfair’s  History  of  Jacobinism,  2 volumes ; George 
Barnwell;  Camilla,  3 volumes;  Beggar  Girl,  3 vol- 
umes, and  some  others.  Later  purchases  included 
Shakespeare,  Don  Quixote,  Lock’s  Essays,  Scottish 
Chiefs,  Josephus,  Smith’s  Wealth  of  Nations,  Specta- 
tor, Plutarch’s  Lives,  Arabian  Nights,  Life  of  Washing- 
ton, &c. 

On  the  2d  of  February,  1804,  at  the  house  of  Chris- 
topher He7'rold,  articles  of  association  were  regularly 
entered  into  for  the  government  of  the  Library  Asso- 
ciation. The  amount  of  a share  was  fixed  at  two  dol- 
lars and  fifty  cents , and  the  owner  was  required  to  pay 
in  for  the  use  of  the  Library  twenty-five  cents  additional 
every  year  on  each  share.  The  names  of  the  subscri- 
bers to  the  Articles  of  Association,  with  the  number  of 
shares  taken  by  each,  were  as  follows : Ephraim  Cutler, 
four  shares;  Jason  Rice,  two;  Silvanus  Ames,  two; 
Benjamin  L.  Brown,  one ; Martin  Boyles,  one ; Ezra 
Green,  one;  George  Ewing,  one;  John  Brown,  Jr., 


one  ; 


one;  Josiah  True,  one;  George  Ewing,  Jr.,  one; 
Daniel  Weethee,  two ; Timothy  Wilkins,  two ; Benja- 
min Brown,  one ; Samuel  Brown,  2d,  one ; Samuel 
Brown,  Sr.,  one ; Simon  Converse,  one ; Christopher 
Herrold,  one;  Edmund  Dorr,  one;  George  Wolf, 
one;  Nathan  Woodbury,  one;  Joshua  Wyatt,  one; 
George  Walker,  one ; Elijah  Hatch,  one ; Zebulon 
Griffin,  one;  Jehiel  Gregory,  one;  George  Castle, 
one ; Samuel  Brown,  one.  Among  the  subscribers  in 
later  years  appear  the  names  of  Ezra  W~alker,  Othniel 
Nye,  Sally  Rice,  Lucy  Ames,  John  M.  Hibbard,  Seth 
Child,  Ebenezer  Champlin,  Amos  Linscott,  Elisha  Lat- 
timer,  Nehemiah  Gregory,  Thomas  Ewing,  Jason  Rice, 
Cyrus  Tuttle,  Pearly  Brown,  Robert  Fulton,  R.  S. 
Lovell,  Michael  Tippie,  and  James  Pugsley. 

The  Library  has  long  since  ceased  to  exist  as  such, 
and  has  been  succeeded  by  other  more  modern  sources 
of  information.  The  Charter  of  the  Association, 
granted  by  the  Ohio  Legislature  in  1810,  has  ex- 
pired by  non-user.  The  books  had  accumulated  to 
several  hundred  volumes — a considerable  Library  for 
the  place  and  period.  Many  years  later  it  was  divided 
and  part  taken  to  Dover  township  (where  some  of  the 
original  stockholders  lived),  where  it  formed  the  nu- 
cleus of  another  Library,  which  was  incorporated  by 
Act  of  the  Legislature,  passed  December  21,  1830. 

The  portion  retained  in  Ames  township  was  sold  by 
the  shareholders  in  the  year  i860  or  1861  to  Messrs. 

J.  H.  Glazier, 


1 1 

J.  H.  Glazier,  A.  W.  Glazier  and  E.  H.  Brawley,  and 
they  afterwards  sold  it  to  Hon.  W.  P.  Cutler,  of  Wash- 
ington county. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  an  effort  may  be  made  to  re- 
deem these  old  historic  books,  such  of  them  as  can  be 
found,  and  place  them  in  proper  form  in  some  secure 
public  place.  The  worm-eaten  and  dilapidated  volumes 
are  intrinsically  of  little  value,  but  they  are  priceless  as 
mementos  of  the  past.  Who  would  not  desire  to  see 
the  identical  volumes  read  and  re-read  by  Thomas 
Ewing,  Bishop  Ames,  and  their  associates,  and  from 
which  they  formed  their  style,  and  from  which  they  drew 
their  first  inspirations  ? The  marks  of  their  fingers,  and 
their  notations  in  the  margin,  are  still  to  be  seen  upon 
them.  The  eyes  that  scanned  them,  and  the  hands  that 
turned  their  pages  are  mouldering  in  the  dust,  but 
memory  can  recall  them  in  all  their  youthful  vigor  and 
life.  Let  the  effort  be  made. 

The  simple  history  of  this  unpretending  Library  As- 
sociation is  sufficient  to  challenge  the  admiration  and 
homage  of  every  true  American.  It  was  one  of  the 
springs  which  have  made  up  the  great  ocean  of  our 
State  and  national  prosperity.  These  pioneers  came 
to  their  chosen  place  of  abode  full  of  the  spirit  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787 
and  of  the  Constitution , which  embodied  them  both. 
Their  descendants  are  now  counted  by  the  hundreds , 
and  are  to  be  found  in  almost  all  parts  of  the  country, 

and  especially 


0* 


12 

and  especially  in  the  States  of  the  Northwest  Terri- 
tory. Their  proselytes — if  that  term  may  be  so  applied 
— can  be  counted  by  the  thousands ; and  no  human 
arithmetic  can  correctly  estimate  the  influence  they 
may  have  exerted  in  shaping  the  destiny  of  the  coun- 
try. We  are  told  that  “ every  natural  fact  is  a symbol 
of  some  spiritual  fact,  and,  that  as  motion  is  propagated 
throughout  all  space,  and  endures  through  all  time,  so 
each  action  of  the  mind  of  man  affects  the  spiritual 
universe;”  that  “thus  the  spirit  of  the  age  is  the  sum 
of  individual  thoughts,  and  that  each  man  is  to  some 
extent  the  product  of  all  the  preceding  ages  of  the 
race.”  If  this  be  true,  what  an  incentive  to  virtue  and 
the  advancement  of  knowledge.  The  subjects  of  this 
memorial  seem  to  have  believed  in  its  truth.  They 
stand  before  the  world  as  men  and  women  who  lived 
for  others,  and  not  for  themselves.  They  made  duty 
their  supreme  rule  of  action,  and  the  love  of  duty  their 
governing  motive.  They  lived  for  the  future,  rather 
than  for  the  present.  They  trampled  their  own  selfish 
propensities  under  foot,  and  made  of  them  stepping- 
stones  to  a higher  and  nobler  life.  They  were  self- 
sacrificing,  conscientious  men 


* * * ' * * combating 

Because  they  ought  to  combat : 

Conscious  that  to  find  in  martyrdom 
The  stamp  and  signet  of  a noble  life 
Is  all  the  science  that  mankind  can  reach.” 


It  is  to 


13 


It  is  to  such  men  that  the  world  is  debtor  for  what- 
ever is  truly  good  and  great  in  human  affairs,  and  to 
such  that  we  must  look  for  our  upward  march  in  the 
future.  The  lives  of  these  patriots  is  a lesson — a les- 
son that  cannot  be  studied  without  profit.  They  teach 
us  not  to  despise  the  day  of  small  things.  They  teach 
us  simplicity  of  life,  and  the  honorableness  of  labor,  and 
are,  in  these  respects,  in  startling  contrast  with  the 
luxury  and  extravagance  of  the  present  age.  But 
above  all,  they  teach  us  the  value  of  a life  well  spent. 
Their  lives,  like  the  lives  of  all  good  men,  remind  us  : 

“ We  can  make  our  lives  sublime, 

And  departing  leave  behind  us 
Footprints  on  the  sands  of  time.” 

This  Library  is  one  of  the  footprints  of  these  pioneers. 

It  will  hardly  be  considered  invidious,  to  single  out 
the  names  of  some  of  the  more  prominent  among  these 
men,  and  speak  of  them  individually.  In  doing  so,  how- 
ever, it  must  be  said  that,  with  no  great  number  of  ex- 
ceptions, they  were  all  men  of  high  character  for  intel- 
ligence, morality  and  patriotism,  and  that  many  of  them 
were  distinguished  by  civil  and  military  services  in  the 
country. 

George  Ewing , was  a native  of  Salem,  New  Jersey, 
He  entered  the  Continental  army  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Revolutionary  war,  and  served  with  credit  as  Lieu- 
tenant during  its  whole  course.  He  was  the  father  of 
the  late  Hon.  Thomas  Ewing , the  eminent  jurist  and 

statesman, 


i4 


statesman,  who  stood  at  the  head  of  the  Ohio  bar  for 
half  a century,  and  who  made  his  mark  in  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States,  and  in  the  Cabinet. 

Silvanus  Ames  was  the  father  of  the  late  Bishop 
Ames , a magnate  and  ardent  worker  in  that  Church, 
the  Methodist  Episcopal,  which  has,  perhaps,  done 
more  to  promote  civilization  and  morality  in  the  pio- 
neer settlements  of  the  Northwest  than  any  other 
agency  whatever. 

Benjamin  Brown  was  a Captain  in  the  army  of  the 
Revolution  ; was  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Bunker’s 
Hill,  and  served  in  the  army  to  the  end  of  the  war. 
He  was  the  father  of  Hon.  A.  G.  Brown,  of  Athens,  a 
graduate  of  the  Ohio  University,  now  in  his  85th  year, 
late  a Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  a 
member  of  the  Convention  which  framed  the  present 
Constitution  of  Ohio.  Benjamin  Brown  was  also  the 
father  of  the  late  General  John  Brown,  for  many  years 
a prominent  citizen  of  Athens,  who  died  March  29, 
1876,  in  his  91st  year,  respected  and  beloved  by  all 
who  knew  him. 

But  a new  phase  of  the  history  of  this  Library  is 
opened  up  when  we  come  to  mention  the  name  of 
Ephraim  Cutler , who  seems  to  have  been  the  owner  of 
most  of  the  land  on  which  the  settlement  was  made, 
and  to  have  been  a leading  spirit  in  the  enterprise. 
He  was  a member  of  the  Convention  which  framed  the 

Ohio 


lS 


Ohio  Constitution  of  1802,  and  his  son,  the  present 
William  P.  Cutler , of  Marietta,  was  a member  of  the 
Convention  which  framed  our  present  Ohio  Constitu- 
tion. 

Ephraim  Cutler  was  the  son  of  Dr.  Manasseh 
Cutler,  of  Ipswich.  Massachusetts,  a leading  spirit 
among  the  originators  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787  for 
the  Government  of  the  Northwest  Territory , and  of  the 
Ohio  Company , which  purchased  this  part  of  the  Terri- 
tory. No  history  of  the  Amestown  Library,  or  of  any 
other  Library  in  the  Northwest,  would  be  complete 
without  something  of  the  history  of  Dr.  Manasseh 
Cutler.  The  very  mention  of  his  name  carries  the 
real  history  of  the  Library  back  to  a period  antedating 
the  Ordinance  of  1787,  and  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  The  Library  Association  was  but  an 
outgrowth  of  that  Ordinance — a step  taken  to  carry 
its  wise  and  beneficial  purposes  into  execution.  That 
Ordinance  the  cession  by  Virginia,  the  purchase  by 
the  Ohio  Company,  and  the  formation  in  the  Ter- 
ritories of  Libraries  like  this,  are  one  in  spirit  and 
conception  equally  as  Pharaoh's  dreams  were  one. 
They  all  had  their  real  birth  in  the  wise  and  pro- 
phetic minds  of  a small  group  of  philanthropists  of 
New  England  and  New  Jersey,  and  a central  figure  in 
that  group  was  Dr.  Manasseh  Cutler.  If  it  be  true  that 
Jefferson  wrote  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  which  is  denied, 
it  is  equally  true,  figuratively  speaking,  that  Manasseh 

Cutler 


Ctitler  and  his  coadjutors  guided  his  hand  while  he 
wrote.  Whoever  wrote  it  was  the  mere  amanuensis, 
as  it  were,  of  Manasseh  Cutler.  It  was,  in  a moral 
sense,  his  work,  written,  reported  by  the  Committee 
and  adopted  by  the  Continental  Congress,  under  his 
inspiration  and  influence. 

Manasseh  Cutler  has  justly  been  called  “ the  father 
of  the  Ohio  Company,”  and  “ the  father  of  the  Ohio 
University;”  and  it  is  a mere  enlargement  of  the 
thought  to  call  him  “the  father  of  the  Ordinance  of 
1787.”  The  Ordinance  was  adopted  on  the  13th  of 
July,  1787,  and  the  grant  to  the  Ohio  Company  was 
made  on  the  27th  of  the  same  month. 

The  passage  of  both  measures  was  urged  upon 
Congress  by  the  same  parties,  with  Manasseh  Cutler 
at  their  head,  and  as  their  acting  and  principal  agent. 
The  two  measures  were  considered  together  by  Con- 
gress. They  were  reported  by  the  same  Committee, 
and  discussed  before  Congress  conjointly.  One  could 
not  have  been  passed  without  the  other.  Without  the 
Ordinance  the  purchase  would  not  have  been  accepted 
by  Dr.  Cutler  and  the  Ohio  Company  for  which  he 
acted,  and  without  the  purchase  the  Ordinance  never 
would  have  been  passed,  nay,  would  probably  never 
have  been  thought  of.  It  took  Dr.  Cutler  and  his 
liberty-loving  compeers  a long  time  to  inspire  the 
Southern  members  of  Congress,  and  Jefferson,  their 

master 


*7 


master  spirit,  with  an  appreciation  and  sanction  of  the 
principles  of  that  Ordinance. 

What  were  the  principles  of  that  Ordinance  ? They 
have  now  become  household  words;  they  underlie 
almost  everything  that  is  good  and  great  in  the  coun- 
try. They  were  those  principles,  which,  two  years 
later,  found  their  way  into  the  Federal  Constitution,  in 
the  shape  of  a bill  of  rights ; which,  in  1802,  were  em- 
bodied in  the  same  form  in  the  Constitution  of  Ohio, 
and  subsequently  in  the  Constitutions  of  the  other  four 
States  of  the  Northwest  Territory.  The  same  bill  of 
rights  is  found  in  our  present  Constitution,  adopted  in 
1852,  by  a Convention  of  which  the  grandson  of  Ma- 
nasseh  Cutler  was  a member. 

The  essential  and  efficient  elements  of  the  ordinance 
are  contained  in  the  single  provision : “ Religion,  Mo- 
rality and  Knowledge  being  essential  to  good  govern- 
ment, and  the  happiness  of  mankind,  schools  and  the 
means  of  instruction  shall  forever  be  encouraged.’’  In 
this  single  provision  is  embodied  the  true  foundation 
of  national  greatness.  No  wonder  that  our  march  of 
empire  since  1787  has  been  westward.  It  is  because 
we  have  marched  under  this  banner.  Here  is  the  germ 
of  the  riches,  the  intelligence,  and  the  rapid  growth  of 
the  great  Northwest,  nay,  of  the  whole  country.  It  is 
to  the  authors  of  this  wise  and  far-reaching  provision 
that  these  Northwestern  States,  and  especially  our  own 
Ohio,  are  indebted  for  whatever  is  high  and  noble  in 

the  character 


i8 


the  character  of  their  people,  valuable  in  their  sur- 
roundings, or  bright  and  promising  in  the  future  that 
awaits  them.  Our  humble  little  Library  was  but  one 
of  the  early  outgrowths  from  this  provision  of  the  Or- 
dinance— a small  stream  from  this  beneficent  fountain. 
So  was  the  Ohio  University,  in  whose  charter  is  em- 
bodied a copy  of  this  provision,  and  whose  endowment, 
by  a grant  of  two  townships  of  land,  was  provided  for 
in  the  purchase  of  the  Ohio  Company,  which,  as  has 
been  shown,  immediately  followed  the  adoption  of  the 
Ordinance.  That  Ordinance  is  the  legitimate  parent 
of  our  common  school  system,  which  has  been  in  force 
in  Ohio  ever  since  1825,  constantly  growing  in  useful- 
ness and  in  public  estimation,  and  constantly  extending 
itself  into  the  surrounding  States. 

Under  the  magic  of  this  Ordinance,  the  State  of 
Ohio  has  been  covered  over  with  common  schools, 
high  schools,  academies,  colleges,  and  public  and  pri- 
vate libraries. 

It  was  this  Ordinance  that  built  our  Churches  and 
school-houses.  It  was  this  Ordinance  that  inspired  the 
people  of  Ohio  to  expend  so  largely  of  their  private 
means,  in  noble  and  praiseworthy  charitable  and  re- 
formatory institutions.  This  Ordinance  has  filled  the 
Patent  Office  at  Washington  with  new  and  useful  in- 
ventions. It  has  invented  and  put  in  operation  for  our 
use  the  steam-engine,  the  railroad,  the  telegraph,  the 
telephone,  and  countless  other  inventions  and  devices 

for  the 


19 


for  the  betterment  of  the  race.  Whether  it  be  true  or 
not,  that  these  great  benefits,  in  whole  or  in  part,  are 
attributable  to  the  influence  of  this  Ordinance,  it  is  un- 
deniably true,  that  during  the  ninety-five  years  in  which 
the  Ordinance  has  been  in  force,  more  advancement 
has  been  made  in  material  civilization  than  in  any  ten 
centuries  before.  More  has  been  accomplished  within 
that  period  of  ninety-five  years  to  elevate  the  standard 
of  civilization,  to  advance  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  to 
add  to  the  conveniences,  decencies  and  comforts  of  life, 
than  had  theretofore  been  accomplished  in  any  one  thou- 
sand years  during  the  historic  period.  And  much  more 
has  been  done  during  that  short  period,  than  in  centu- 
ries before,  to  elevate  and  educate  the  masses ; to  level 
upwards  instead  of  downwards;  to  extend  the  domain 
of  free  government ; to  promote  the  cause  of  peace, 
harmony  and  brotherhood,  and  to  make  religion  more 
rational,  tolerant  and  charitable,  and  less  ritual  and 
dogmatic.  Before  the  passage  of  that  Ordinance  the 
sufferers  by  the  Chicago  fire,  the  Irish  famine,  and  the 
yellow  fever,  would  have  called  in  vain  for  the  munifi- 
cent relief  which  they  received  at  our  hands.  But  for 
that  Ordinance  the  slave  would  still  have  been  in  bond- 
age. Justly  and  truthfully  does  Mr.  Chase,  in  his  in- 
troduction to  the  “Statutes  of  Ohio”  say  of  this  Ordi- 
nance : “ Never,  probably,  in  the  history  of  the  world, 
did  a measure  of  legislation  so  accurately  fulfill,  and  yet 
so  mightily  exceed  the  anticipations  of  the  legislators. 

The 


20 


The  Ordinance  has  well  been  described  as  a pillar  of 
cloud  by  day  and  of  fire  by  night  in  the  settlement  and 
government  of  the  Northwestern  States.” 

Such,  briefly,  is  the  history  and  character  of  the 
“Ordinance  of  1787,”  and  it  enters  into  and  forms  a 
necessary  part  of  the  history  of  every  “ Library  Asso- 
ciation” in  the  Union.  Its  instrumentalities  are  “Re- 
ligion, Morality  and  Knowledge.”  These  instrumen- 
talities are  to  be  forged  and  found  only  in  the  labora- 
tories of  “ schools,”  and  other  “means  of  instruction.” 
The  conception  is  simple,  and  beautiful  as  it  is  simple, 
“Religion,  Morality  and  Knowledge”  may  be  com- 
pressed into  the  single  idea  of  “ Knowledge.”  For 
what  are  “religion  and  morality”  but  “knowledge” 
in  its  highest  and  best  sense,  in  the  sense  of  wisdom  ? 
And  so,  of  “schools  and  means  of  instruction.”  They 
may  be  compressed  into  the  single  idea  of  “instruc- 
tion,” whether  that  instruction  is  to  be  in  schools 
and  seminaries  of  learning,  or  in  the  family,  the 
Church,  the  Sunday  School,  the  Library,  or  else- 
where. The  simple  thought  is  that  true  national 
greatness,  nay,  true  human  greatness,  can  only  be 
attained  by  governmental  means  for  the  “ instruc- 
tion ” of  the  rising  generation,  by  provisions  of  law 
which  bring  the  means  of  instruction  within  the  reach 
of  the  masses.  Compressed  within  its  narrowest  com- 
pass, the  principle  asserted  is : “ The  State  must  edu- 
cate." 


The  State 


21 


The  State  of  Ohio  has  faithfully  obeyed  the  behest 
of  this  Ordinance.  She  has  at  all  times  made  educa- 
tion a primary  object  of  legislation.  The  result  is  seen 
in  the  high  stand  which  the  State  now  maintains. 
She  has  produced  a class  of  men  and  women  of  whom 
no  State  need  be  ashamed.  She  has  built  fifty  thou* 
sand  school-houses,  and  has  expended  two  hundred 
millions  of  public  money  in  common  school  education. 
She  has  built  more  than  ten  thousand  Churches,  and 
has  organized  and  put  in  successful  operation  numer- 
ous academies,  colleges  and  libraries,  which  are  scat- 
tered all  over  the  State,  and  which  bring  instruction  to 
the  doors  of  the  people.  Since  1802  the  State  has 
added  nearly  three  millions  to  her  population,  besides 
studding  the  newer  States  and  Territories  with  her 
emigrants.  Within  that  period  she  has  redeemed 
twenty-two  million  acres  of  land  from  the  wilder- 
ness, and  converted  them  into  farms,  gardens,  vil- 
lages and  cities.  She  has  constructed  a thorough 
system  of  canals,  nine  hundred  and  seventy-six  miles 
in  length,  traversing  the  State  in  nearly  all  directions , 
and  these  canals,  having  served  their  day  and  purpose, 
have  been  superseded  by  seven  thousand  miles  of  rail- 
roads, which  bring  commerce  and  travel  almost  to 
every  man’s  door.  All  this  has  been  accomplished 
within  a life-time.  Men  are  still  alive  who  aided  in  its 
beginnings,  and  who  are  now  witnesses  of  the  fact,  that 
the  results  have  outrun  the  expectations  of  the  most 
sanguine. 


It  is  not 


22 


It  is  not  claimed  that  our  system  and  policy  of  edu- 
cation is  alone  to  be  credited  with  these  vast  results, 
but  it  is  claimed  that  this  system  and  policy  sustains  to 
them  the  relation  which  ^Eneas  sustained  to  the  sack 
of  Troy — it  was  the  principal  agency. 

An  indispensable  element  in  any  complete  system  of 
education  is  the  Library.  It  reaches  the  adult  as  well 
as  the  minor.  It  is  a cheap  method  of  instruction,  and 
available  at  times  and  places  where  other  modes  are 
impracticable. 

The  history  of  the  Library  which  is  the  subject  of 
this  memorial  is  an  instance,  and  a standing  proof  of 
the  value  of  that  method.  The  light  of  that  Library 
has  shone  all  around  it,  and  is  still  shining.  The  traces 
of  its  influence  are  visible  in  the  surrounding  commu- 
nity, and  it  has  to  a great  extent  given  tone  and  char- 
acter to  that  community.  Its  remote  causes  are  still 
in  operation,  verifying  the  saying  of  the  poet,  that 
“Tongues  of  dead  men  are  not  lost,”  and,  that 
“Thought  kindles  as  it  flies.” 

The  eye  that  rightly  looks  back  over  “ the  distant 
landscape  of  the  past,”  sees  this  little  Library  as  one 
of  the  beacon  lights  that  have  guided  our  upward 
progress.  Let  us  cherish  its  memory ; let  us  strew 
chaplets  upon  the  graves  of  its  founders ; let  us,  by 
their  example,  and  by  this  public  memorial  of  it,  be 
stimulated  to  follow  in  their  footsteps,  by  spending 
more  of  our  efforts  and  energies  in  the  cause  of  edu- 
cation. 


23 

cation.  Let  us  be  co-workers  with  these  pioneers  in 
spreading  knowledge  among  men.  Let  us  so  act  in 
the  matter  that  they,  in  contemplating  the  success  of 
their  work,  may  realize  and  appropriate  the  language 
of  the  poet : 

“ I shot  an  arrow  into  the  air, 

It  fell  to  earth,  I knew  not  where  ; 

For,  so  swiftly  it  flew,  the  sight 
Could  not  follow  it  in  its  flight. 

“ I breathed  a song  into  the  air, 

It  fell  to  earth,  I knew  not  where  ; 

F or  who  has  sight  so  keen  and  strong 
That  it  can  follow  the  flight  of  song  ! 

“ Long,  long  afterward,  in  an  oak 
I found  the  arrow,  still  unbroke  ; 

And  the  song  from  beginning  to  end, 

I found  in  the  heart  of  a friend.” 

Memorials  of  this  nature  cannot  but  be  of  positive 
value  to  the  community — to  the  writers  as  well  as  the 
readers.  They  serve  to  cultivate  the  historical  spirit, 
and  to  beget  and  keep  in  the  heart  a reverence  for 
what  is  good  and  great  in  the  past.  As  we  become 
conscious  of  our  indebtedness  to  a great  past,  we  are 
more  conscious  of  our  responsibility  to  a greater  pres- 
ent, and  of  our  obligation  to  make  the  future  worthy 
of  what  has  preceded. 

The  savage  takes  no  account  of  the  past,  and  makes 
no  provision  for  the  future.  His  whole  being,  interest 
and  aims  are  concentered  in  the  present  hour.  As 


man  rises 


24 


man  rises  in  the  scale  of  civilization,  his  interest  in  the 
past  deepens  and  intensifies,  and  there  is  a correspond- 
ing increase  of  his  foresight  and  provision  for  the 
future. 

The  multiplication  of  libraries,  lectures,  and  histori- 
cal and  pioneer  societies,  will  always  be  found  to  be  an 
evidence  of  culture — moral  as  well  as  intellectual. 
The  civilization  of  a community  can  almost  as  accu- 
rately be  gauged  by  these,  as  you  can  gauge  the 
weather  by  the  thermometer. 

On  the  shelves  of  a single  Library  in  the  State  of 
Connecticut,  we  are  told  that  there  were  counted  two 
hundred  and  forty  volumes  and  pamphlets,  “ connected 
simply  with  the  local  history  of  townships  and  counties 
in  that  State,”  and  that  the  whole  number  of  such 
volumes  and  pamphlets  in  that  Library  were  “ vastly 
greater  than  that.” 

The  Pioneer  Association  of  Athens  county  has  pre- 
pared this  Memorial  in  the  spirit  of  the  men  whose 
lives  and  works  it  sets  forth,  for  the  promotion  of 
“good  government  and  the  happiness  of  mankind;” 
and  we  send  it  forth  to  our  brethren  engaged  in  the 
same  good  work,  in  the  hope  and  belief  that  it  will  be 
gladly  received,  and  kindly  reciprocated. 

Let  us  all  unite,  for  the  benefit  of  all,  in  placing  upon 
record,  and  preserving  a recollection  of  our  remote  be- 
ginnings. Posterity  will  thank  us  for  the  labor,  and 

the  older 


25 


the  older  the  record  grows  the  more  value  will  they 
place  upon  it.  Who  would  be  willing  to  forget  the 
history  of  Plymouth  Rock,  or  Jamestown  ? What 
would  the  world  not  now  give  for  an  authentic  his- 
tory of  the  first  settlement  of  Greece,  of  China,  or  of 
Egypt  ? Beginnings  of  a people  are  generally  small, 
but,  unlike  most  other  things,  they  grow  in  value  as 
they  grow  older.  Unless  recorded  by  contemporaries, 
or  those  within  the  reach  of  memory  or  authentic  tra- 
dition, they  are  lost  to  the  world.  When  left  to  frail 
memory,  they  finally  vanish,  or  are  resolved  into  mere 
myths. 

There  is  a wise  middle  course,  between  the  blind  and 
indiscriminate  worship  of  ancestry  observed  by  the 
Chinese,  and  that  total  neglect  and  forgetfulness  of 
the  »past  which  characterizes  the  savage.  Good  men , 
and  their  good  deeds,  should  ever  be  held  up  before 
the  eyes  of  posterity  for  their  reverence  and  imita- 
tion , and  the  names  of  bad  men , and  their  bad  deeds, 
should  be  execrated  and  forgotten.  If  this  be  true,  as 
it  surely  is,  then  the  Western  Library  Association, 
and  its  founders,  are  eminently  deserving  of  a place  in 
the  history  of  the  country. 


. 


